Clair de Lune
by Koukla22
Summary: OneShot. Severus and Lily meet by moonlight.  Just for tonight...


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or any of JK Rowling's amazing characters. I am merely borrowing them.

This One-Shot was inspired by Claude Debussy's beautiful musical masterpiece, "Clair de Lune", I wrote this story while listening to that piece and I recommend you listen to it while reading.

You'll find a link in my profile to the song.

**Clair de Lune.**

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The full moon shone brilliantly through the window of the otherwise pitch dark classroom, in which Severus Snape sat, a stack of opened books and bits of parchment lay forgotten on the table in front of him. 

The torches that lit the room had long since burned away as Severus sat in the darkness, gazing out the window. A flash of brilliant red on the grounds below captured his eye as he looked down to see a figure moving leisurely towards the lake. He rose from his chair as recognition dawned on him. He would know that silky red hair anywhere.

"Lily…" he whispered, his hot breath clouding the window ever so slightly.

He pressed his hand against the glass, surprised at the icy chill that penetrated the window. Another glance at the girl who had, by now, nearly reached the lake, and he noticed that she did not have a cloak with her.

His own cloak, lay strewn upon the chair he had vacated moments before. Moving towards it, he picked it up cautiously… a silent debate with himself ensued as he shifted his gaze from the garment in his hands to the solitary form seated by the water's edge.

He watched as she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. In that moment, all uncertainty flew out the frosty window as Severus swiftly exited the room, cloak in hand, towards the woman who had once been his best-friend and would always be his true love.

It took him only moments to reach the open grounds of the school, his long strides carried him towards her assuredly. Stopping just short of her, he observed her quietly… not certain how to proceed.

But she already knew he was mere yards away from her. She had always been able to sense his presence, seizing comfort from the way it caused her stomach to flutter.

Without turning to face him, Lily patted the patch of soft ground beside her. Severus moved forward and lowered himself onto the offered space covered in fall leaves.

"I never could sneak up on you," he said in a soft voice, following her gaze over the horizon.

Lily didn't answer, but her eyes betrayed her by exuding a familiarity. She remembered, he knew, every noteworthy moment they had shared since their youth. As did he… not only remembered, but cherished.

She shivered.

"You're cold," he said.

She nodded.

He shivered.

"So are you," she whispered.

He shook his head. "No," he affirmed. Their proximity had forged his reaction, not the cooling temperature.

Wordlessly, he reached for his cloak and draped it over her shoulders, allowing his fingers to linger slightly as they grazed her neck, imagining that he felt her lean into his touch.

Lily shivered again. This time, like Severus, it had nothing to do with the crisp weather. His feather-light touch sent a tremor through her body causing a soft gasp to escape her lips.

He withdrew his hand from her soft skin, believing her to disapprove of his contact.

At the loss of his touch, she turned her face away from the water and settled her bright green eyes upon his nearly black ones, in which the moonlight was reflected intensely.

But Lily did not need the assistance of the moonlight to read all that was exposed in Severus' eyes.

She had once known him better than anyone else. She had once shared years of her life with him.

And she had once allowed one word to come between them.

One word.

Everything they had been together was over because of one moment of unrestrained and misdirected rage.

All this was staring back at her in his penetrating gaze.

He, who had sat idly by as she grew ever closer to another man.

He, who knew that there was no chance of recovering from this unyielding love.

And he, who knew that she knew all of this, only too well.

Uncertainty clouded her green eyes, as they communicated silently with one another.

Then he felt her hand touch his cheek, spreading warmth throughout his body with the delicate caress.

He closed his eyes, completely enraptured by her. Her thumb grazed his skin lightly as he reveled in the long awaited contact.

His eyes opened again to meet hers just as a lone tear spilled onto her own cheek. But she was smiling.

Almost imperceptibly, but it was there.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Reaching up towards his cheek, he covered her hand with his own.

"I'm sorry," he replied.

Severus stared at her, both bathed in iridescent light from the moon shining overhead.

Illuminated, she looked like a fantasy. An angel.

He searched her face with a desire to remember everything about the way she looked at this moment.

Hardly noticing that she drew ever closer… until he felt her warm breath and took in her sweet scent.

Both eager to be granted access to the intimate convergence, their stares matched the other in question and in passion.

What awaited them was likely the best and worst mistake either would ever make, but for tonight….just tonight, in the light of the brilliant moon… their pasts would be forgotten and their futures trivial…

Their lips finally met, as beating hearts grew steadily more rapid and their separate breaths intermingled as one. Drawing one another closer, yearning to explore as years of longing and wonder were, at last, rewarded. A kiss that both redeemed and renewed.

A kiss that, for just tonight, would allow both to know what might have been.

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**Please let me know what you think.**


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